Indianapolis… Emmis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: EMMS), parent
company of New Orleans’ WVUE-TV (Fox 8), today announced its Emmis
Relief Fund has given $92,000 to the historic New Orleans City Park. The
funds were contributed by Emmis employees and will be applied to
restoration efforts in the Amusement Park portion of the City Park,
which includes Louisiana’s only antique wooden carousel, featuring a
menagerie of 54 carved animals. The Emmis gift will be used to help
restore the carousel and repair other rides and features of the
Amusement Park. The donation was presented today in front of the
historic carousel by employees of WVUE-TV and their families, along with
Ray Schonbak, Emmis Vice President of Television Operations.
“We believe that the revitalization of the City Park will benefit
generations of New Orleans residents,” said Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan. “The
City Park is largely self-sustaining, and the Amusement Park generates
10 percent of the Park’s total revenues. Getting the rides up and
running again is critical to the restoration and success of this city
treasure.”
“Since the storm, it has been a major goal of City Park to restore our
turn-of-the-century Amusement Park,” said Bob Becker, CEO of the City
Park Improvement Association. “This park, which houses family rides and
our historic carousel, has been an iconic attraction in the city for
many years. It has been missed by our children and our families, and we
are very grateful to the employees of Emmis Communications and WVUE for
assisting in our recovery effort.”
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Emmis employees were invited to donate
to relief efforts through the Emmis Relief Fund; they were told the
Smulyan Family Foundation, funded by Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan, would match
their donations to a maximum of $25,000. Company employees from Honolulu
to Hungary gave a total of $59,169, far exceeding expectations, and
Smulyan decided to increase his match limit to double the entire amount
to a grand total of $118,338. Last year, a portion of this total was
given to WVUE-TV employees who were personally affected by Katrina. With
the announced gift to the City Park, all Katrina-designated Emmis relief
funds will be dispersed.
Emmis Communications — Great Media, Great People, Great Service®
Emmis is an Indianapolis-based diversified media firm with radio broadcasting,
television broadcasting and magazine publishing operations. Emmis owns
22 FM and 2 AM domestic radio stations serving the nation’s largest
markets of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as Phoenix, St.
Louis, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, IN. In May 2005, Emmis announced
its intent to seek strategic alternatives for its 16 television
stations, and the Company has sold or announced signed definitive
agreements to sell 14 of them. Emmis owns a radio network, international
radio stations, regional and specialty magazines and ancillary
businesses in broadcast sales and publishing.